Kim Roney She will be the next mayor of Asheville. The councilwoman received 25,676 votes, compared to 18,375 for the current mayor. Esther Mannheimer, according to unofficial results of the North Carolina State Board of Elections.
The advantage was 16.46 percentage points, with all 40 precincts in the city reporting.
“It is an honor to be the next mayor of Asheville,” Roney said, originally in English, to her supporters at The Grey Eagle, a concert venue in the River Arts District. Shortly before 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 3, Manheimer had called her to concede defeat.
“The working class is going to show that we can not only win, but we can also govern,” Roney added. In his speech, he also thanked Manheimer for his work in securing recovery funds after Hurricane Helene.
Manheimer, an attorney, served on the City Council from 2009 to 2013 and has governed the city ever since. She also co-chairs Governor Josh Stein's advisory committee. for the recovery of the western part of the state.
As mayor, Roney will preside over the seven-member City Council, though without veto power. In Asheville's system of government, the day-to-day operation of the city is handled by a city manager.
Roney's commitments to the Latino community
The recovery after the Hurricane Helene This was the central theme of her proposal for the Latino community. “Immigration status should not determine a family’s ability to recover after a disaster,” Roney told Enlace Latino NC in October, in their responses to the questionnaire that this media outlet sent to the two candidates.
Many families, she explained, did not qualify for federal aid or their insurance did not cover their losses. She added that fear of immigration enforcement measures became another barrier to seeking help.
She pledged to work with the county and community organizations to ensure that funds reach those who were left out of other programs, including assistance with rent, utilities, and home repairs.
“Home repairs are still far behind schedule and many families are waiting to have safe homes,” he said.
It also supports removing all automatic license plate readers from the city, beyond the contract with Flock Safety that the council canceled on August 25According to Roney, these cameras have been used in other cities by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to track residents.
The new composition of the City Council
Asheville voters also elected three City Council members. The result leaves the council with one new face and one councilwoman losing her seat. Drew Ball, currently a Buncombe County Commissioner, received the most votes, with 25,586 (22.82%).
Behind him were two councilors who were seeking re-election and were successful. Maggie Ullman Berthiaume, on the council since 2022, obtained 23,344 votes (20.82%), and Deputy Mayor S. Antanette Mosley garnered 19,821 (17.68%).
Sheneika Smith, a councilor since 2017, failed to retain her seat. Smith finished last among the six candidates, with 11,539 votes (10.29%), behind Jeffrey Burroughs, with 17,277 (15.41%), and former councilor Keith Young, with 14,120 (12.59%).
The three elected officials will take office in December, the same month Roney will become mayor. His departure leaves vacant the council seat he has held since 2020.
The City of Asheville Board of Education
Asheville voters retained the leadership of the Asheville City Board of Education and added a new face. Board President Sarah Thornburg and Vice President Rebecca Strimer were re-elected, along with Liza English-Kelly.
However, the candidate with the most votes, with 20.73%, was Gordon Grant, a retired educator who is joining the board for the first time.
Grant spent 34 years as a teacher and principal in Asheville City Schools and district-affiliated programs. In his campaign, he promised to focus on three long-standing problems in the district: teacher turnover, the achievement gap between white and African American students, and finances.
2026 Election Results
The next steps until December
The results are not yet official. The Buncombe County Board of Elections will conduct a public audit on Monday, November 9, in which it will manually count ballots from randomly selected precincts.
The official count will take place on Friday, November 13, when the board will also review the provisional ballots. Once the results are certified, Roney and the three elected council members will take office in December.
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